𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗪𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗦 (𝟣𝟪+) ❣ 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘤𝘬.

chapter five.

"renjun, where have you been?" as soon as renjun steps inside their house, that's what he heard first.

he sighs, "i went to work after school."

"your work is just two hours. it's almost 9:00, renjun. don't lie to me!" his stepmother suddenly pulls his hair. "i said, where have you been?" she yells.

"i told you, hyekyung, i went to work." he hisses due to the tension he felt on his scalp. "stop, it hurts!"

"i will fucking cut your hair if i ever catch you lying to me!" hyekyung, his stepmother, threatens before letting go of his hair.

he glares at her before walking into his bedroom, slamming the door hard. he flops himself on his bed before crying himself out.

please, someone get me out of this house.

~~~

today, he decides to not skip class and attend his fourth period. it's the period that he always skips because it's after lunch break. he would always want to escape school after lunch.

"renjun, so glad you're here. we announced about the project yesterday and we have a student here who doesn't have a partner. would you like to be partners?" the professor nicely asks, pointing at his classmate with his hand.

it's seungmin, one of the quiet students, just like him.

"i'm sorry for being absent, miss. i wasn't feeling well yesterday." he tries not to tremble. "may i know what's the project about?"

"sure. for our project i want you to get to know each other better. you have to interview one another, with this guide questions." she gives him a piece of paper. "it's up to you if you want to add some more. after that, what i want you to do is write a letter for each other of what you wanna saying to the other. anything. that's it. deadline is next week."

what kind of project is that?

renjun looks at seungmin who's fidgeting on his fingers. he sighs and thinks about what donghyuck told him. he has to be 100% sure of what he's going to do. "okay, miss. i'll partner with him. thank you for informing me."

"no problem, mr. huang." she smiles at her. afterwards, she starts discussing her next lesson.

he looks at seungmin who quietly taking notes of the discussion. maybe he's not 100% sure of this but he'll try to survive in this project. sure he can.

~~~

"hi, renjun." renjun gets startle when seungmin pats his shoulder. "oh my god, i'm sorry! i didn't mean to startle you."

"don't worry about it. what is it, seungmin?"

"uhm," the quiet boy fidgets on his hands, "i just want to ask, when do you want us to start doing the project in philosophy?" he asks shyly.

"maybe, tomorrow? we can't do it in our house, though. can it be in your house instead?" renjun asks back, clinging his bag unto his shoulder.

"sure, sure. i'll see you tomorrow, then?" seungmin smiles slightly.

he nods, "see you." he returns a small smile at him. "bye!" he waves at the quiet boy before leaving the classroom. he sighs as he felt his palms sweating due to anxiousness.

when he exits his school, he walks to the ice cream parlor. when he enters, he was greeted by his co-workers in which he ignores again. he goes to the kitchen to change into his uniform before taking over his counter.

another boring day, he thinks.
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